Croatian Stuffed Peppers in Tomato Sauce

This is my great-grandmother's recipe, great right out of the pot or as leftovers. Each serving is half a pepper plus some of the additional meatballs. Really good served over additional cooked rice.

• Preparation Time: 15 mins
• Cooking Time: 1 hr 10 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 25 mins
• Calories: 463 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
• 4 cups water
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1 dash garlic powder
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
• 1 dash ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons uncooked white rice
• 2 green bell peppers, cored

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Mix ground beef, egg, rice, bread crumbs, and onion powder together in a large bowl.

Step 2

Pack the ground beef mixture into the green bell peppers, eliminating all air pockets. Form the remaining beef mixture into large balls.

Step 3

Combine water, tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder in a Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Carefully lower peppers and meatballs into the sauce with a slotted spoon. Bring back to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until beef is cooked through and rice is tender, about 1 hour.

Step 4

Mix sour cream and flour together in a small bowl. Slowly stir in some of the sauce. Pour into the Dutch oven and mix well. Simmer until flavors combine, 3 to 4 minutes more.